The present invention relates to uses of ginseng saponin such as wild ginseng, wood-cultivated ginseng, cultivated roots, water culture ginseng, Panax quinquefolius L., Panax notoginseng, or red ginseng, and the like, and more particularly, to ginseng saponin (hereinafter, referred to as ‘CKS’), which contains at least 90% of a compound K, Rd, F2, and Rg3 as a main ingredient and has effects in extending the lifespan of the cell, promoting the cell differentiation, increasing the number of red blood cells, and reducing the triglycerides by extracting, heat-treating, and enzyme-converting the ginseng saponin to prepare active saponins Rd, F2, and Rg3 including the compound K.
Saponin and non-saponin substances (panacen, polysaccharides, amino acid derivatives, polyacetylene derivatives, and phenol compounds), which are contained in ginsengs, have excellent pharmacological activity and excellent efficacy in elimination of harmful free radicals, and have excellent efficacy in anticancer, blood pressure drop, liquid lowering, and hepatotoxicity. Ginseng saponin, which is well known as a main pharmacological component of the ginsengs, is divided into protopanaxadiol (PPD)-based saponin and protopanaxatriol (PPT)-based saponin. The PPD-based saponin has a structure in which various substituents are bonded to the PPD, which is a basic structure, and ginsenosides Rb1, Rb2, Rc, Rd, F2, and Rg3 and a compound K are representative saponins. The PPT-based saponin is a basic structure of PPT, and ginsenosides Re, Rf, Rg1, Rh1, and are representative.
In general, many glycoside compounds present in the natural world tend to have increased physiological activity when the sugar is degraded and become an aglycon rather than the glycoside compounds themselves. In the case of ginseng saponin, it is known that ginsenosides Rg3, Rh1, Rh2, F2, CY, and CK produced by hydrolysis of some of sugars have better effects in terms of absorption into the living body and physiological activity than ginsenosides Rb1, Rb2, Rd, and Re bonded with three or more sugars. It is known that ginseng saponin, which is bonded with many sugars, is absorbed into the body in the small intestine in a very small amount. As a result of an experiment on the hydrolysis ability of ginsenoside Rb1 from intestinal microorganisms extracted from human excreta, it is showed that 21% of the intestinal microorganisms have no decomposition ability. It was confirmed that 70% of the intestinal microorganisms having decomposition ability had a great difference in ability of decomposing the ginseng saponin.
In general, ginseng products including saponin components are composed of ginseng saponins consisting of ingredient having high solubility in water. It is known that the components in an inactive state have high solubility in water, but are not easily absorbed in the intestines and thus there is little effect. However, when the ingredients are activated and changed to an active ingredient, the ingredients are not easily dissolved in water, but the absorbability in the body is increased, and thus, the effect is exerted well.
In the present invention, the term “the active type” used in the active saponin, the active wood-cultivated ginseng, the active ingredient, and the like means a characteristic of saponin or ginsenoside of the ginseng processed by the present invention. The sugars attached to a nucleus of saponin are separated, and as a result, the total content of saponin is higher than that of ordinary wild ginseng, wood-cultivated ginseng or ginseng and absorbed in human body to exert its effect. That is, the active type means saponin which has a better effect in terms of adsorption in the human body or physiological activity as one or at least two ginsenosides selected from the group consisting of ginsenosides Rg3, Rh1, Rh2, F2, CY, and CK produced by hydrolysis of some of sugars, instead of ginsenosides Rb1, Rb2, Rd, and Re bonded with three or more sugars.
As described above, the active ingredient is an ingredient in which the sugar attached to ginseng saponin is separated from the sugar and absorbed in the human body to exert its effect. This process is mainly a process of decomposition by heat or decomposition by enzymes, and some of the active ingredients are activated by the intestinal microorganisms and then absorbed. Particularly, it is known that it is very difficult to manufacture a compound K, which is an active ingredient.
The present inventors tried to find a use for anti-aging by preparing and studying the CKS. Aging is a state in which a living body is unable to perform its normal functions due to functional deterioration of cells and organs constituting the living body, the homeostasis deterioration of the living body due to excessive accumulation of waste products, and induction of cell suicide. The aging can also be defined as a process in which the susceptibility to disease and death increases and the living body becomes debilitated. However, these causes are diverse and complicated, and it is difficult to define the cause to one cause.
The present invention aims to identify internal factors among various causes of aging through blood analysis. With age, deterioration of a liver function, deterioration of a kidney function, memory loss, and especially, excessive increase in total fat and triglyceride levels cause problems in the blood vessels and cause many diseases. Therefore, the results are observed through blood analysis.
As a result, Sprague Dawley rats (hereinafter, referred to as SD rats) with 12 months old were purchased and bred for 19 months and then intraperitoneally administered with CKS for 37 days from 20 months of age, and compared with a non-administered control group. It is very difficult to manufacture a compound K and therefore, it is not easily to purchase and experiment the compound K due to a disadvantage of high cost. The present inventors have developed a technique for producing a large amount of compound K by enzyme conversion over a long period of time, and administered CKS containing the prepared compound K to an aged Sprague Dawley Rat (hereinafter, referred to as a SD Rat), and performed Blood analysis. As a result of blood analysis, the decrease of triglycerides was obviously shown, and there was an increase of red blood cells. In contrast to the control group with much decreased activity, the drug-administered group was active. The present inventors tried to find an additional reason in addition to the results of the increase in motility (Korean Patent Application No. 10-2014-0023244) filed by the present inventors and additionally confirmed an effect of CKS through the blood analysis. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved an indication for ruxolitinib, a therapeutic agent for bone marrow fibrosis, to be prescribed to patients with polycythemia vera. Similarly, the CKS can be prescribed to the patients for an effect of increasing red blood cells.
Since it takes a considerable time to secure an aging rodent, there is a difficulty in breeding for a long period of time, and it is quite difficult to design a proper experiment because it is not known when a biofunction is deteriorated. As a result, the present inventors observed the white paper daily rats for up to 19 months, intend to draw the results from fat analysis and hematology analysis using the CKS in the experiment, and intend to draw good results for anti-aging by an experiment on the aging rodent.
In addition, the present inventors found the differentiation effect on stem cells and found the effect on lifespan extension of the cells through cell culture. The differentiation of stem cells means that as many cells as possible can be made in a short time. In particular, reducing the differentiation time means that the number of cells can be increased quickly.
Scholars have studied substances that have an effect of extending a cell lifespan and have made an effort to find a safe substance that inhibits β-galactosidase. However, it is not easy to find such a substance, and it is very difficult to use a substance with secured safety and stability. In particular, the cost should be considered in terms of economy. The CKS, which has been studied for a long time by the present inventors, is considered to be an optimal material in terms of stability, safety, price, and the like. In terms of cell culture, suppression of β-galactosidase in cultured cells means that extension of the lifespan of cells is caused. Scientists have studied substances having an effect of extending the lifespan of cells, and the present inventors have derived a result using CKS having an effect of suppressing the β-galactosidase.